We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position

Learning consists in the acquisition of knowledge, whether through reading and studying or through lessons and debates. In any of those ways, we can choose to learn from people whose views are in agreement or from people whose views are in disagreement with our owns. While learning from people whose views we share can be more motivating and less stressful, learning from people who have different opinions is important to help us improve our arguments and get to know different views.

One could argue that learning is not usually a simple process and that feeling motivated is essential to staying focused. Being taught by teachers whose views are similar to ours is often a sure way to keep us interested, as well as to being less stressed. Assimilating information that is in agreement with our own thoughts is always easier than assimilating informations that conflict with what we think. In addition, classrooms where students and teachers have opposing opinions may become a more stressful environment, with frequent and ardorous discussions, which can compromise our ability to acquire knowledge.

On the other hand, in order to develop more consistently our views on different matters, it is always important to know both sides of an issue. Only after learning from people with distinct opinions can one be sure of one’s beliefs. When we talk to people whose views are similar to ours, we are often presented to facts and informations that we were already aware of and do not contribute to our knowledge. Whereas when we talk to people with distinct opinions, different facts and visions are presented. This may lead to interesting discussions that are important to test and improve our arguments, as we might try to convince the other of our own thoughts.

Aditionally, by talking to or being taught by people with views that contradict our own we often find ourselves questioning our beliefs, which is essential for completely understanding anything. Questioning the informations that are presented to us, rather than just accepting them as truth is determining to have a more solid knowledge of any matter. When we also learn from people whose views conflict with ours, this process of questioning happens more naturally and we can learn a subject more deeply.

Thus, we can learn both from people whose thoughts are in agreement with ours as with people whose thoughts we disagree with. On a first notice, it may seem easier to learn from those whose views we share. However, on closer examination we can see that to really understand the subleties of any question and have a more deep knowledge of it, it is also important to learn from people with different beliefs.